Is Rushing Making Us Dumber?

When I think about my biggest mistakes, they almost always happen when I’m either sleep deprived or when I’m in a hurry. Rushing.

The problem is, with sleep deprivation, I am aware of it. I know when I’m running on fumes, so I hold off on decisions, buy myself time until I’m clear-headed. But rushing? Half the time, I don’t even realize I’m doing it. It’s like I’m on autopilot, everything around me speeding up, pushing me to make decisions I’m not even fully aware of making. And everyone else is doing it too, so it never truly feels like I’m rushing. It’s like this frantic pace is just how things are supposed to be in society.

But it’s not. It’s making me dumber, knocking 10, 20 IQ points right off the top.

The idea that hurrying or rushing can lead to poor decision-making is a theme that appears in several ancient philosophical texts. Ancients often caution against speed and emphasize the importance of deliberate thought and action.

• Seneca in Epistles (Epistle 44):"Nothing is as useful as it should be, if it is done with haste. Hasty climbers quickly reach the bottom again, just as hasty reasoners are quickly refuted."

• Horace in his Satires (Book I, Satire 10) expresses the idea that hasty decisions often lead to regret: "He who is in a hurry gets on horseback and goes astray.""He who is in a hurry gets on horseback and goes astray."

• Cicero in De Officiis (On Duties) discusses the importance of foresight and careful deliberation: "Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to age. Youth is quick in action, but it is better to deliberate before acting."

How many of your mistakes came when you were in a hurry?

Hurry Sickness

We live in a rushed society. Everything pushes us to stay in a hurried state. It’s not just work—though that grind shrinks your time, forces you into a morning commute deadline, and makes you chase tasks by the hour all day. It’s hobbies, activities and even vacations that we are rushing through. There’s this undercurrent of panic, this unspoken rule that if you’re not busy, you’re not really living.

And even if we’re not actually rushed, we pretend to be. It’s a status symbol. The more rushed you are, the more people respect you. This is the world we’ve built.

Some people call this phenomenon hurry sickness.

The Assumption of Speed

A big assumption is that speed is most important thing. But that isn’t true for things we enjoy. We want to slow time down. Not speed it up. Take for example shopping for groceries.

During the week, people go into supermarkets and rush to get their groceries so they can go home. No chit chat. No enjoying their environment. But what happens during the weekend when they don’t feel as rushed? They shop at the slowest, most inefficient, but most scenic place for groceries: The Farmers Market. They walk slow, have conversations with the people selling produce, inspect vegetables. They slow down.

@thestushlife

sunday funday 🛒 ✨ #sundayfunday #farmersmarket #farmersmarkethaul #farmersmarkets #relaxingsunday #blackgirllifestyle #blackgirlluxury #he... See more

An interesting book by a German Sociologist posits that we can’t actually stop living in a rushed society. As technology, communication, and the options available to us accelerates, we are experiencing time shortage and it is making us miserable. He gave a talk on this topic. We are moving faster and faster to just stay in place.

A poem about Hurrying and Parenting.

In This Newsletter

Five Attributes of The Rushed Society

Five Attributes of the Rushed Society

1) Websites and Transportation. Every transportation tool we use is designed to get us there fast. You need directions? Maps automatically shows you the quickest route. But what about the most enjoyable one? The most scenic? What if I actually want to take my time, soak in the journey? That option doesn’t exist.

A Google engineer once described the issue: Google never coded "scenic" into their maps because it would inject bias into the system. The algorithm would end up steering people through wealthier neighborhoods—places with beautiful architecture, tree-lined streets. And that would mean less foot traffic, fewer tax dollars flowing through poorer areas, further isolating them.

2) The Clothes We Wear

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.